Commentary on Rule XII for Applicants

(All Bolding, Underlining and Highlighting is by MDR)

 

 

Rule 12

 

Let the disciple learn the use of the hand in service;

 

1.                  The hand is one of the symbols of the intelligence aspect of divinity. It is especially associated with the planet Mercury which is a profoundly fifth ray planet. The five fingers of the hand (four fingers and one thumb) represent the sub-monadic five of Mercury (the monadic ray of Mercury but not the major monadic ray).

2.                  Service (giving so as to meet the need) is most correlated with the second ray (though it naturally is expressed along all ray lines).

3.                  In this sentence, the third ray instrument (the hand)—i.e., the instrument of intelligent manipulation—is to be put at the disposal of the second ray.

4.                  “Goodwill is love in action”. In acts of good will, acts of service, the second and third rays are to be blended.

5.                  When we study IHS closely, we see that even great Beings such as Sanat Kumara or Buddhas of Activity have “hands” and in the initiation ceremonies, They use Their hands in certain symbolic yet occultly effective ways.

6.                  The hand as the primary instrument of physical action in the human being is to be rendered serviceable to a higher aspect of divinity than the one it symbolizes; it is to serve the second aspect—love and the heart.

7.                  Hands can do many things. If we study the long and bloody history of humanity, we shall be appalled at the things which hands (lovelessly guided) have done. Now all that must change.

 

 let him seek the mark of the messenger in his feet,

 

8.                  One does not propel oneself forward on his hands (though there are those rare acrobatic individuals who can amuse us by doing so).

9.                  If we wish to ‘travel through space’ we need the legs and their anchor on the physical plane, the feet.

10.             The ‘sign of the feet’ is Pisces. One thinks of the psychology of Pisces individual, with their reputation for ‘ungroundedness’—i.e., for not having their “feet on the ground”. We see from the symbolism that Pisces could represent an attitude of great spiritual ‘groundedness’.

11.             Every organ of the body is to represent the soul, be the agent of the soul. Although the soul is, in a way, omnipresent, the legs and feet are needed to spread its influence in time and space, i.e., throughout space and over time.

12.             Every disciple is ideally a “messenger of the soul”. A messenger must travel “from here to there”. This reminds one of the antahkaranic function of the third ray type: “He who works upon the third ray must reach the path from here to there.” (R&I 507).

13.             The “messenger” (like Mercury in its major monadic expression) is upon the third ray.

14.             Again the third ray is to represent the second ray—the soul.

15.             What is the “mark of the messenger”? Can we say it is the inner confirmation that one is truly a messenger carrying that which is ‘high’ into the lower worlds?

16.             There may also be some “occult signature” involved when the “mark of the messenger” is impressed upon the disciple. Nature ever symbolizes in the most concrete manner, and various symbols and signatures are found within the aura of the individual and group.

17.             We note that the disciple is to “seek” the “mark”. This means that he does not yet possess it. In a way, it is the members of Hierarchy Who are the true “Messengers”. They are Messengers of the Will of God, Messengers of Shamballa.

18.             We may think of the second ray as rather static or inert, but this would not be accurate. The following excerpt from the Old Commentary demonstrates the manner in which the Lord of the Second Ray seeks to bring life and vitality to all (unfortunately, at this time, in excess):

 

II. "The Great One poured His life throughout all parts and every aspect of manifestation.  From the centre to the periphery and from the periphery to the centre He rushed, carrying abundance of life, energising all forms of Himself, producing excess of movement, endless extension, abundant growth and undue haste.  He knew not what He wanted because He wanted all, desired all, attracted all and gave to all too much." (EH 299)

 

and let him learn to see with the eye that looks out from between the two.

 

19.             DK elaborates on this sentence below.

20.             We have the two hands, the two feet, the two eyes and the single eye—seven in all. Or if we leave out the two eyes, we have the five representing fivefold man, with the single eye representing the head.

21.             The hands and feet, rightly use, lead to the creation of unity. The “eye that looks out from between the two” sees the unity and ‘oversees’ the creation of unity in divided circumstances.

22.             Gradually the disciple learns to perceive wholeness. Thus, his intelligent actions inspired by wise love can be most effective in replicating the inner wholeness below.

 

This rule looks easy of interpretation upon the first reading, and seems to enjoin upon the applicant the use of the hands in service, of the feet upon hierarchical errands, and the development of clairvoyance.

 

23.             This more superficial interpretation is true but only to a point. We are to use the hands in service. We are to go (on foot, as it were) where our presence is required. And, as well, the inner, clairvoyant sight is gradually to be developed and placed in the service of the higher Ego.

 

 But the real meaning is much more esoteric.

 

24.             As always, in occultism, the inner, the ready interpretation suggests insufficient penetration.

 

 Occultly understood, the "use of the hands" is the utilisation of the chakras or centres) in the palms of the hands in:—

 

25.             We can see that DK was referring to the physical hands in His first interpretation. The real instruction concerning the hands deals with the etheric energy system.

 

a. Healing bodily ills.

 

26.             When we study Esoteric Healing we are given hierarchically-sanctioned methods for the use of the hands in the healing process.

 

b. Blessing, and thus curing emotional ills.

 

27.             This is an amazing thought. Psychology in the twentieth century has labored to understand how emotional ills could be cured. So many theories have been advanced.

28.             But the simple expedient of “blessing” is given as the essential method.

29.             It would seem that accompanying the etheric currents from the chakras in the palms of the hands, other and necessary energies can be transmitted to the emotional body. From what we learn in Esoteric Healing, it is probable that the energy of the heart can be transmitted through the hands to the emotional body. In fact, the energy of any of the chakras can be directed via the imagination through the chakras in the hands.

30.             The energy of love is foundational to the curing of emotional ills.

31.             Emotional ills are based upon dissonant desires and dissonant emotional tendencies. Friction and inharmony exists in the astral nature and the internecine warfare of these energies produces pain and continuing disunity.

32.             Blessing is an invocation of the soul of the one blessed. It is a calling for the healing, ‘wholing’ energy of the soul to descend into the emotional vehicle carrying the reconciling energy of buddhi.

33.             Blessing, in general, is an invocation of the higher energies of the one blessed which, descending, can restore harmony.

34.             Blessing is the summoning of the archetype into situations which do not yet reflect the archetype.

35.             Blessing summons those energies which indicate an inner fulfillment which, in fact, already exists and which is the answer to the frustrated desires which contribute to emotional ills.

36.             Blessing brings the one blessed into the vivid presence of beauty which reminds of the essential goodness and beauty of life. It reveals dissonance and disunity as the product of illusory combinations of energies.

37.             Blessing summons the substance of higher realization and lifts the one blessed into a frequency domain above and beyond the emotional torture he so frequently experiences.

38.             Through blessing, the one who blesses expresses tangibly his solidarity in soul and Spirit (i.e., in love and oneness) with the one blessed. The one blessed feels that solidarity and experiences joy through unity with the blessing one.

39.             Ponder on the meaning of blessing. You will arrive at your own conclusions and the exercise will be revelatory.

 

c. Raised in prayer,

 

40.             To raise the hands in prayer is a mudra reinforcing aspiration. It is an invocative gesture calling for the descent of an energic-response to the energies upwardly released in invocation.

41.             When the hands are joined palm to palm, fingers to fingers, an energy circuit is closed in such a way that energies can be directed towards and ascending penetration into the higher worlds. The fingers, after all, are pointing ‘upwards’. Were they pointing ‘downwards’ a very different effect would be achieved!

42.             When building the antahkarana, the hands may be placed in the position of prayer to assist with the projection of energy along the bridge. The receptive attitude necessary to receive impression from the response is also promoted by the mudra of prayer.

 

or the use of the centres of the hands during meditation in the manipulation of mental matter and currents.

 

43.             When etheric, astral and etheric vision is more common, this method of manipulating mental matter and currents will be more effective.

44.             Even without the ability to ‘see’ with certainty on the mental and other subtle planes, one may practice this manipulation kinesthetically. Imagination can be used accompanied by the ‘feel’ of the presence of certain energies on certain levels. It will be found that certain motions of the hands and imagined activations of the centers in the hands will contribute to construction (or destruction) upon the subtle planes. The power of the hands and the power of imagination are combined. The intended inner work is thus strengthened and made more certain.

 

These three points will bear careful consideration, and much may be learnt by occidental students from the study of the life of Christ, and a consideration of His methods in using His hands.  More cannot be said here, as the subject is too vast to be enlarged upon in this brief commentary.

 

45.             We are asked to go through the New Testament and search for the ways the Christ used His hands. The casual reader of the New Testament will over look the occult significance of the Christ’s gestures.

46.             The Buddha, also, is depicted with his hands in many different positions, all of which have occult significance. The Buddha’s use of His hands was deliberately symbolic and, probably, ‘transmissive’.

 

The "mark of the messenger" in the feet, is a reference to that well-known symbol of the wings on the heels of Mercury.

 

47.             Mercury is not only associated with the hands and thus with Gemini, but with the legs and feet as well—and thus with Sagittarius and, to a degree, Pisces.

48.             The following reference is apt in relation to the subject in hand:

 

He walks no longer in the dark, for he sees what he has to do and he therefore makes rapid progress and travels "fast [Page 181] upon the Way." He "flies from point to point, searching for the arrows which he has discharged." He has, figuratively speaking, to dismount constantly from his white horse (the developed and purified personality) and find where the arrows of intuitional aspiration will take him; he travels upon the "wings of the soul" (note the relationship to the winged feet of Mercury, the messenger of the Gods) and becomes, in his own personality, himself the winged God: Mercury, as you know, governs Gemini, the polar opposite of Sagittarius. This he does until he has established a balanced relationship between the personality and the soul and can function as either at any desired moment with equal facility. (EA 180181)

 

 Much upon this subject will be revealed to students in occult schools who will gather together all that can be found concerning the Messenger of the Gods, and who also will study with care information which astrological [Page 207] students have gleaned anent the planet Mercury, and which occult students have gathered concerning the inner round.

 

49.             The first of these suggestions is more manageable. We can understand how—through the imagination and in general through the extension of consciousness—it is possible to travel on the “wings of the soul”.

50.             There are many ways to ‘travel’ from place to place. These methods involve the energy of Mercury and the siddhis associated with Mercury.

51.             Mercury is essentially a third ray planet and, as such, contributes to the achievement of Omnipresence.

52.             Eventually Mercury gives way to Jupiter and it becomes possible to feel oneself extended through space with no need to go anywhere.

53.             As for the inner round, it is often associated with Mercury, but in ways which are not easy for us to understand.

54.             Appended at the end of this commentary is a compilation on the Inner Round provided by a student who has made a great number of useful compilations. Gratitude to him!

 

On the surface, the expression "the eye which looks out from between the two” seems to signify the third eye, which clairvoyants utilise, but the meaning is very much deeper than that, and lies hidden in the following facts:—

 

55.             The functional development of the third eye is achieved at the third initiation.

56.             The triangle between the crown, ajna and alta major center must be in circulation to a required degree before that capacity known as the “third eye” can emerge.

57.             I will also append a compilation on various kinds of eyes, including the “Third Eye” and the “Eye of the Soul” so that this essential subject may be more carefully studied.

58.             We are looking for the meaning of the “eye which looks out from between the two” and the following facts will help us appreciate that meaning.

 

a. That the inner vision is that which all self-conscious beings, from a Logos to a man, are in the process of developing. 

 

59.             The inner vision discloses the wholeness of the whole, beyond the illusion induced by the interplay of the pairs of opposites.

60.             It may be useful to note that the second method of inducing soul control, naturally correlated to the second ray, is “The Quality of the Hidden Vision”.

 

b. That the Ego, or Higher Self, is literally to the Monad what the third eye is to man, and therefore is described as looking out from between the Monad or spiritual self on the one hand, and the personal self on the other.

 

61.             Note how the Monad is described—as the “spiritual self”. We might think of the Monad as the Spirit; the Spirit is the Self. The Monad is the ‘Spirit-Self’ here described as the “spiritual self”.

62.             The Self as it expresses through the spiritual triad can also be called the “spiritual self”, but the real identity behind Self-as-Spiritual-Triad is the Monad.

63.             We are given a very occult statement: “the Ego…is literally to the Monad what the third eye is to man”.

64.             We should combine this statement with another which has a similar ring: “The Monad is to the planetary Logos what the third eye is to man, esoterically understood.” (DINA II 310)

65.             Here we have two ‘elevated’ “third eyes”. One looks out from between the Monad and the personal self. The other looks out from between the Planetary Logos and the soul infused personality.

66.             If the third eye confers a comprehensive, unified vision on man, a vision of what the ‘soul sees’, then the Ego (both as consciousness within the egoic lotus and consciousness within the spiritual triad) confers upon the Monad a unified vision of still higher worlds (the first sub-plane of the higher mental plane, the buddhic and atmic planes) over which the Monad ‘hovers’. These “eyes” act as extensions into worlds lower than the familiar habitat of the Entity who possesses the eyes.

67.             This aspect of the Rule seems to enjoin the disciple to see not only as the soul sees (through the third eye), but as the Monad ‘sees’ through the Ego considering the Ego as an eye.

68.             If we were able to ‘ascend’ into the sphere of the Monad (our true Self), we would see somewhat as the Planetary Logos ‘sees’, for to Him the Monad is as an eye.

 

In the fullest sense, therefore, this rule incites the applicant to develop self-consciousness, and thus learn to function in the causal body on the higher levels of the mental plane, controlling from thence all the lower vehicles and seeing clearly all that can be seen in the three worlds, in the past and in the future.  .

 

69.             Master DK lays it out for us. Throughout Letters on Occult Meditation we are enjoined to develop causal consciousness, and at the same time told how difficult it is to do, and how infrequently it is, as yet, accomplished by the modern disciple.

70.             Real “self consciousness” is not consciousness within the personality at all. A truer and higher Self is the Ego within the causal body. The Ego also exists ‘without’ the causal body; that Ego is the spiritual triad.

71.             To develop consciousness on the higher mental plane is not sufficient. From that high point, control over the lower vehicles in the three lower worlds must be developed and exerted.

72.             We are told that the Solar Angel can see the recent incarnations of the human being and also somewhat into the future. From a vantage point within the causal body, this same type of extended vision can be achieved by the human soul.

73.             We can see that the demands of Rule XII for Applicants are extensive and that one would have to be an initiate of the third degree to fulfill them.

74.             Close study of the Fourteen Rules for Applicants should confirm that they are not simply of a preliminary nature suited for untrained aspirants. They do, indeed, take us to the portal of the third degree.

 

Inner round

 

CF 1164) These centres, with no dense physical globe, constitute what has sometimes been called "the inner round" and transmit their force through those greater centres which have been spoken of in occult books as having a connection with the inner round.

 

(CF 744) Between Two Solar Systems.  This covers the period of one hundred years of Brahma, and through the study of the planetary cycles comprehension of these greater cycles may come.  Complication comes to the student nevertheless in the fact that two of the schemes cover their cyclic periods in five rounds, while others have seven; one scheme has but three rounds, but a mystery is hidden here:  on the inner round one planet has nine cycles to run before the purpose of its Lord is completed.

 

(IHS:129) The Rod of Initiation known as the "Flaming Diamond," is used by Sanat Kumara, the One Initiator.  This Rod lies hidden "in the East," and holds the fire hidden that irradiates the Wisdom Religion.  This Rod was brought by the Lord of the World from Venus, and once in every world period it is subjected to a similar process to that of the lesser Rod, only this time it is recharged by the direct action of the Logos Himself, the Logos of the solar system.  The exact location of this Rod is known only to the Lord of the World and to the Chohans of the rays, and being the talisman of this evolution the Chohan of the second ray is—under the Lord of the World—its prime guardian, aided by the deva Lord of the second plane.  The Buddhas of Activity are responsible for its custody, and under Them the Chohan of the ray.  It is produced only at stated times, when specific work has to be done.  It is used not only at the initiating of men, but at certain planetary functions of which nothing is at present known.  It has its place and function in certain ceremonies connected with the inner round, and the triangle formed by the Earth, Mars, and Mercury.

 

(IHS 207) The "mark of the messenger" in the feet, is a reference to that well-known symbol of the wings on the heels of Mercury.  Much upon this subject will be revealed to students in occult schools who will gather together all that can be found concerning the Messenger of the Gods, and who also will study with care information which astrological [Page 207] students have gleaned anent the planet Mercury, and which occult students have gathered concerning the inner round.

 

(CF 299) Three of the sacred planets, it should be remembered, are the home of the three major Rays, of the embodied forms of the three logoic aspects or principles.  Other planets are embodiments of the four minor rays.  We might consider—from the standpoint of the present—that Venus, Jupiter and Saturn might be considered as the vehicles of the three super-principles at this time.  Mercury, the Earth and Mars are closely allied to these three, but a hidden mystery lies here.  The evolution of the inner round has a close connection with this problem.  Perhaps some light may be thrown upon the obscurity of the matter by the realisation that just as the Logos has (in the non-sacred planets) the correspondence to the permanent atoms in the human being, so the middle evolution between these two (God and man) is the Heavenly Man, whose body is made up of human and deva monads, and Who has likewise His permanent atoms.  Always the three higher principles can be distinguished in importance from the four lower.

 

(CF 777) These three activities are the main work of the solar Pitris where man is concerned.  Where the group, and not the individual, is concerned, their work lies along the line of adjusting the egoic units in their groups, and of making them group conscious, but this is only possible towards the final stages of evolution when the work of the highest group of Agnishvattas is in order.  The middle group who form the nine petals are always the most active.  They work in connection with the lower group who are the direct transmitters of energy to the atomic triangle, receiving it from the middle group.  More of their work it is not possible to detail, for the work of the Agnishvattas is vast and intricate, and differs also in the various schemes in certain particulars.  Those who are working in the Uranus, the Neptune, and the Saturn scheme work somewhat differently to those functioning in the Venus, the Vulcan, the Mars, the Mercury, the Jupiter, the Earth and the exoteric Saturn scheme, and so do the Manasadevas of the inner round.  We should note here that we again have a triplicity of groups, representing a triplicity of force, and herein lies a hint.  In the central list of schemes the middle and lower group  of Agnishvattas are active.  In the others the higher group and middle group hold sway as these planets are the most occult and sacred in manifestation, and are concerned only with egos who are on the Path, and who are therefore group-active.  In connection with Uranus, Neptune and Saturn, this might be expected as they are the synthesising planetary schemes, and provide conditions suitable only for the very advanced stages.  They are the "reaping" planets.

 

(CF 793) The three major planetary schemes (Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn) have not, as yet, received their fullest stimulation, and will not do so until the "energy of the sacred seven" has been transferred to Them.  Figures, therefore, as regards their duration and persistence are not in order.

 

The figures for the planets concerned with the "inner round" differ as to length of time but not as to space location from those of other planets.

 

(CF 825) For advanced man at this time these incarnations took place upon the moon chain and in some cases upon certain planets connected with the inner round.  This is the circumstance which necessitated his "coming-in" during the Atlantean root-race.  Men of this type refused to incarnate earlier, as the bodies were too coarse; this was the cyclic reflection (on the lowest plane) of the refusal of the Monads to incarnate at the dawn of manvantaric opportunity.

 

(CF 851) The "coming-in" of advanced Egos from the inner round, or from other planetary schemes, or from subtler spheres where they have been in pralaya awaiting opportunity is produced in a triple manner and is the result of a triple activity.  It is caused by an understanding between the planetary Logos of a scheme, and a brother planetary Logos whereby an exchange is effected.  The student must here think in terms of force and energy, of magnetic interaction and the conscious transmission of energy out of the body of the planetary Logos, via centres or a centre, into the body of another planetary Logos.  The cause here is the will or purpose, the object is sensation, and the method is force transference.  Exactly the same understanding lies back of the coming in of egos from the inner round, only this time the energy is sent forth by certain existences (working in connection with any planetary Logos) who are the "custodians of the inner circle."  This touches upon a mystery and deals with the coming-in of high Egos, of Avatars, of Buddhas, [Page 852] of masters, of initiates, and of disciples, and of all who have to wait for group, and not individual, urge for the fulfillment of cyclic karma on a large scale, and whose "wheels" are controlled by cosmic forces and not by purely systemic forces.

 

(CF 1164) These centres, with no dense physical globe, constitute what has sometimes been called "the inner round" and transmit their force through those greater centres which have been spoken of in occult books as having a connection with the inner round.

 

(CF 1175) It is not possible at this stage to convey to students the information as to the nature of each planetary school.  They exist in five great groups:

 

1. The exoteric non-sacred planets, called in occult parlance "the outer round" or outer circle of initiates.  Of these our earth is one, but being aligned in a peculiar fashion with certain spheres on the inner round, a dual opportunity exists for mankind, which facilitates, whilst it complicates, the evolutionary process.

 

2. The sacred planets, called sometimes (when this Law of the Schools is under consideration) the "seven grades of psychic knowledge" or the "seven divisions of the field of knowledge."

 

3. The inner round, which carries with it vast opportunity for those who can surmount its problems and withstand its temptations.  This inner round has a peculiar appeal to units on certain Rays, and has its own specific dangers.  The inner round is the round that is followed by those who have passed through the human stage and have consciously developed the faculty of etheric living and can follow the etheric cycles, functioning consciously on the three higher etheric planes in all parts of the system.  They have—for certain occult and specific purposes—broken the connection between the third etheric and the four lower subplanes of the physical plane.  This [Page 1176] round is followed only by a prepared percentage of humanity, and is closely associated with a group who pass with facility and develop with equal facility on the three planets that make a triangle with the earth, namely Mars, Mercury, and Earth.  These three planets—in connection with this inner round—are considered only as existing in etheric matter, and (in relation to one of the Heavenly Men) hold a place analogous to the etheric triangle found in the human etheric body.  I have here conveyed more than has as yet been exoterically communicated anent this inner round and by the study of the human etheric triangle, its function, and the type of force which circulates around it, much may be deduced about the planetary inner round.  We must bear in mind in this connection that just as the human etheric triangle is but the preparatory stage to a vast circulation within the sphere of the entire etheric body, so the etheric planetary triangle—passing from the Earth to Mars and Mercury—is but the preparatory circulatory system to a vaster round included within the sphere of influence of one planetary Lord.

 

(CF 1278) Seek ye the same on lesser scale within the inner round and on the plane of density see the lesser primary manifest.  The law holds good; the mystery dissolves in TIME.

 

 

Eye of the soul Compilation

And Third eye and Spiritual eye

and Eye of Shiva

 

The third eye, not the pineal gland but its etheric correspondence. This is the responsive mechanism to the directing eye of the soul. (DINA II 290)

 

 

2. The eye of the soul, bringing revelation of the nature of the interior worlds, of the kingdom of God and of the divine plan. (DINA II 291)

 

 

Man is now learning to use the eye of the soul, and as he does so he brings its correspondence in the head also into functioning activity; this produces fusion and identification, and brings the pineal gland into action. The major result, however, is to enable the disciple to become aware, whilst in the physical body, of a new range of contacts and perceptions. This marks a crisis in his unfoldment of as drastic and important a nature as the attaining of physical sight and the use of the physical eye was in the unfoldment of the curious creature which antedated the most primitive animal man. Things unknown can now be sensed, searched for and finally seen; a new world of being stands apparent, which has always been present though never before known; the life, nature, quality and the phenomena of the kingdom of souls, or of the Hierarchy, become as patent to his vision and as real as is the world of the five physical senses. (DINA II 292)

 

 

Later, man uses the “eye of the soul,” as we have noted above; it reveals to him a world of subtler phenomena, the kingdom of God or the world of souls. Then the light of the intuition pours in, bringing the power to recognise and rightly interpret and relate. (DINA II 293)

 

 

2. Then reflect quietly upon the directive power of the soul:

 

a. Working within the symbolic “diadem of attainment.”

 

b. Using the impelling “eye of the soul” as a directing agent; i.e., the ajna centre, or the centre between the eyebrows. (DINA II 478)

 

In studying these results of meditation in the psychic realm, it should be borne in mind that the eight means of yoga do produce definite effects in the lower nature and that this causes certain unfoldments and experiences to take place; these put the aspirant more consciously en rapport with the interior planes in the three worlds.  This is a safe and necessary process provided it is the outcome of the awakening of the man on his own plane, and the turning of the eye of the soul, via the mind and the third eye, upon these planes.  The presence of the lower psychic power may, however, mean that the soul is (from the physical plane standpoint) asleep and unable to use its instrument, and that these experiences are therefore only the result of the activity of the solar plexus producing awareness of the astral plane.  This type of psychism is a reversion to the animal state and to the child stage of the human race.  It is undesirable and dangerous. (LOS 258)

 

 

Revelation is a generic term covering all the responses to the activities of the eye of the mind, the eye of the soul, and the “insight” of the Universal Mind which contact with the Monad gives. Sight is the greatest of all the developments in this world period in which the Logos is seeking to bring the subhuman kingdoms to the point where human vision is theirs, to bring humanity to the point where spiritual vision is developed and hierarchical insight is the normal quality of the initiate sight, and to bring the Members of the Hierarchy to the point where universal perception is Theirs. (DINA II 56)

 

 

The third or spiritual eye has several functions.  Amongst others, it is the organ of illumination, the unveiled eye of the soul, through which light and illumination comes into the mind, and thus the entire lower life becomes irradiated.  It is also the organ through which pours the directing energy [Page 975] which streams out from the conscious creating adept to the instruments of service, his thought-forms. (TCF 974-975)

 

The reflection is that with which we are familiar; the appearance, or that which veils the reality, is contacted and known when we see with the eye of the soul, the Eye of Shiva, and the true colour14 is contacted after the fifth kingdom has been passed through, and group consciousness is merging in that of the divine.  Students will, therefore, note that the monadic cosmic wheel can be [Page 1092] visioned in terms of “true colour,” and is seen by the illumined seer as the combined blending of the primary colours of the three solar systems. (TCF 1091-1092)

 

 

The soul is light essentially, both literally from the vibratory angle, and philosophically from the angle of constituting the true medium of knowledge.  The soul is light symbolically, for it is like the rays of the sun, which pour out into the darkness; the soul, through the medium of the brain, causes revelation.  It throws its light into the brain, and thus the way of the human being becomes increasingly illumined.  The brain is like the eye of the soul, looking out into the physical world; in the same sense the soul is the eye of the Monad, and in a curious and occult sense, the fourth kingdom in nature constitutes on our planet the eye of the planetary Deity. (EP I 132)

 

It might be of interest to you to correlate what I have said in my other writing anent the eyes with the point made above.  As you well know, and as stated in The Secret Doctrine, the right eye is the “eye of buddhi” and the left eye is the “eye of manas”—this (when in relation to buddhi) referring to the higher mind and to man as he finally will appear.  In the average human being, and before reaching perfection, the right eye transmits the energy of the astral body when directed consciously towards an object of attention, and the left eye directs the energy of the lower mind. In between these two directing eyes is to be found the ajna centre, which is like a third eye or directing agent for the blended and fused energies of the personality; related to this third eye as it awakens and comes into functioning activity is what we call “the eye of the soul”; this is a point within the highest head centre.  This eye of the soul can and does transmit energy to the ajna centre and is itself the agent (before the fourth initiation) of the energy of the Spiritual Triad. This esoteric relationship is only set up when the soul is dominating its instrument, the personality, and is bringing all the lower activities upon the physical plane under soul direction.

 

In the perfected man, there is to be found, therefore, the following distributors or distributing agents of energy:

 

1. The eye of the soul           agent of the Spiritual Triad   Will.

2. The third eye   agent of the soul        Love.

3. The right eye          distributor of buddhic energy.

4. The left eye            conveyor of pure manasic energy.

5. The ajna centre     focussing and directing point for all these energies. (EH 571)

 

 

Eyes of Three Kinds:

 

In the perfected man, there is to be found, therefore, the following distributors or distributing agents of energy:

 

1. The eye of the soul           agent of the Spiritual Triad   Will.

2. The third eye   agent of the soul        Love.

3. The right eye          distributor of buddhic energy.

4. The left eye            conveyor of pure manasic energy.

5. The ajna centre     focussing and directing point for all these energies.

 

[Page 572]

In the disciple and the man who is beginning to function as a soul, you will have:

 

1. The third eye   distributor of soul energy.

2. The right eye          agent for astral energy.

3. The left eye            agent for lower mental energy.

4. The ajna centre     focussing point of these three energies.

 

In the average man, the situation will be as follows:

 

1. The right eye          agent for astral energy.

2. The left eye            agent for mental energy.

3. The ajna centre     distributing station. (EH 571-572)

 

 

The third eye referred to here is that of the healer and not that of the average patient; this the healer uses in conjunction with the eye of the soul.  In the case of the healing of a very advanced person who is consciously able to cooperate, the third eye of the patient can also be active, and by this means two very potent streams of directed energy can penetrate into the area where the point of friction is located.  In ordinary cases, however, and where no occult knowledge is present on the part of the patient, the healer does all the work, and this is desirable.  The cooperation of the unskilled and those emotionally involved in their trouble is of no true assistance. (EH 575)

 

 

One simple rule towards comprehension and attainment ever holds good.  The Great Renunciation becomes possible only when the practice of the little renunciations governs the life of a disciple and a group.  The renouncing of ambition, of all personality ties, and the renunciation of all that hinders progress as it is revealed to the eye of the soul, lays a sound foundation for the final great transference, based upon the renunciation of that which for aeons has connoted beauty, truth and goodness, and which has seemed the ultimate goal of all aspirational effort.  The endeavour to see that which lies ahead and beyond the apparent finality of soul fusion faces disciples, among them some of you, at this time; and that all of you may penetrate beyond the veil of the soul and eventually see that veil “rent from the top to the bottom,” and thus be enabled to say with those of like degree “It is finished” is my earnest hope.  Then will open for you as for others, the Way of the [Page 225] Higher Evolution, and the glory of the Lord will be seen in a new light—a light which will dim and throw into the shade all previous goals and visions. (R&I 224-225)

 

 

The Third eye:

 

This is the eye of Shiva, for it is only fully utilized in the magical work when the monadic aspect, the will aspect, is controlling.

 

By means of the third eye the soul accomplishes three activities:

 

1. It is the eye of vision.  By its means, the spiritual man sees behind the forms of all aspects of divine expression.  He becomes aware of the light of the world, and contacts the soul within all forms.  Just as the physical eye registers forms, so does the spiritual eye register the illumination within those forms which “illumination” indicates a specific state of being.  It opens up the world of radiance.

 

2. It is the controlling factor of the magical work.  All white magical work is carried forward with a definitely constructive purpose, made possible through the use of the intelligent will.  In other words, the soul knows the [Page 214] plan, and when the alignment is right and the attitude correct, the will aspect of the divine man can function and bring about results in the three worlds.  The organ used is the third eye.  The analogy to this can be seen in the often noticed power of the human eye as it controls other human beings and animals by a look, and through steady gazing can act magnetically.  Force flows through the focused human eye.  Force flows through the focused third eye.

 

3. It has a destructive aspect and the energy flowing through the third eye can have a disintegrating and destroying effect.  It can, through its focused attention, directed by the intelligent will, drive out physical matter.  It is the agent of the soul in the purificatory work. (TWM 231)

 

Spiritual eye

 

2. As a result of focussed thinking "in the heart" the spiritual eye opens and becomes the directing agent, employed consciously by the initiate whilst doing his work under the Law of Sacrifice. (DINA II 289)

 

 

As the disciple and the initiate progress from stage to [Page 294] stage of revelation, it becomes increasingly difficult to make clear not only what is revealed, but also the processes of revelation, and the methods used to bring the stage of revelation about. The vast mass of mankind throughout the world have no clear idea as to the function of the mind as an organ of vision illumined by the soul; still fewer, only the disciples and initiates, are able to glimpse the purpose of the spiritual eye and its functioning in the light of the intuition. When we come, therefore, to the great organ of universal revelation, the monadic principle, functioning through the medium of an extra-planetary light, we enter realms which are indefinable and for which no terminology has been created, and which only initiates above the third degree are able to consider. (DINA II 293-294)

 

 

Energy follows thought and the eye directs that energy. This has been an occult platitude ever since the days of H.P.B., during whose time it was decided that this was the first of the points of revelation which could safely be given to the general public. The assertion of this revealed fact was an essential piece of knowledge in the world, prior to the externalisation of the Ashrams—or, my brother, of the Hierarchy. The thought that all is energy has already been accepted by modern science, and the concept of vision (the first step towards understanding the use of the spiritual eye) is already part of the teaching of modern philosophy and of many of the metaphysical schools. (DINA II 309)

 

 

13. To the inner spiritual eye the Gods are no more abstractions than our soul and body are to us.—S. D., I, 694. (Note, TCF 965)

 

 

The third or spiritual eye has several functions.  Amongst others, it is the organ of illumination, the unveiled eye of the soul, through which light and illumination comes into the mind, and thus the entire lower life becomes irradiated.  It is also the organ through which pours the directing energy [Page 975] which streams out from the conscious creating adept to the instruments of service, his thought-forms. (TCF 974-975)

 

 

Just as the physical eye came into being in response to the light of the sun so the spiritual eye equally comes into being in response to the light of the spiritual sun.  As the aspirant develops he becomes aware of the light.  I refer to the light in all forms, veiled by all sheaths and expressions of the divine life, and not just to the light within the aspirant himself.  As his awareness of this light increases so does the apparatus of vision develop, and the mechanism whereby he can see things in the spiritual light comes into being in the etheric body. (TCF 213)

 

 

The seeing of the light within all forms through the agency of the third eye (brought into being through the realization of the light in the head, the spiritual light) is [Page 215] but the correspondence to the physical eye, revealing forms in the light of the physical sun.  This corresponds to the personality.

 

The aspect of control through magnetic energy and the attractive force in the spiritual eye, which is the dominant factor in magical work, is the correspondence to the soul.  In a most mysterious sense, the soul is the eye of the monad, enabling the monad, which is pure Being, to work, to contact, to know, and to see. It is the eye of vision.  By its means, the spiritual man sees behind the forms of all aspects of divine expression.  He becomes aware of the light of the world, and contacts the soul within all forms.  Just as the physical eye registers forms, so does the spiritual eye register the illumination within those forms which "illumination" indicates a specific state of being.  It opens up the world of radiance.

 

The aspect of destruction is the correspondence to the monad or will aspect; in the last analysis it is the monad that brings about the final abstraction, destroys all forms, withdraws itself from manifestation and ends the cycle of creative work. (TWM 214-215)

 

 

The elemental of the astral or body of water undergoes a similar activity plus a stabilising effect which brings to an end the restlessness and fluidic tempestuousness which have hitherto characterised it.  Through the controlling magnetic power of the spiritual eye, the soul [Page 216] rebuilds the astral body and holds it steady and coherent through its focused attention. (TWM 215-216)

 

Eye of Shiva

 

As he passes from one stage of "seeded" meditation to another, he ever approaches nearer to the seat of all knowledge, and will eventually contact that upon which [Page 101] he is meditating.  Then the nature of the thinker himself, as pure spirit, will be apprehended, and the steps, stages, objects, seeds, organs, forms (subtle or gross) will all be lost sight of and only spirit be known.  Both feeling and mind will then be transcended and only God Himself be seen; the lower vibrations will no longer be sensed; colour will no longer be seen; only light will be known; vision will be lost sight of, and the sound or word will alone be heard.  The "eye of Shiva" will be left and with that the seer will identify himself. (Law of Synthesis 100-101)

 

 

The eye is one of the most potent transmitters of energy, and it was the knowledge of this in the olden days which gave rise to the belief anent the evil eye.  There is much to be discovered concerning sight for this study will include not only physical vision, but the development of the third eye, clairvoyance, perfect spiritual vision and on up to that inconceivable mystery covered by the terms the "All-seeing Eye" and the "Eye of Shiva." (Law of Synthesis 354)

 

 

The secret of life lies hidden in the serpent stage,—not the life of the Spirit, but the life of the soul, and this will be revealed as the "serpent of the astral light" is truly approached, and duly studied.  One of the four Lipika Lords, Who stand nearest to our planetary Logos, is called "The Living Serpent," and His emblem is a serpent of blue with one eye, in the form of a ruby, in its head.  Students who care to carry the symbology a little further can connect this idea with the "eye of Shiva" which sees and knows all, and records all, as [Page 894] does the human eye in lesser degree; all is photographed upon the astral light, as the human eye receives impressions upon the retina.  The same thought is frequently conveyed in the Christian Bible, in the Hebrew and Christian recognition of the all-seeing eye of God.  The application and value of the hints here given may be apparent if the subject of the third eye is studied, and its relation to the spine, and the spinal currents investigated.  This third eye is one of the objects of kundalinic vivification, and in the spinal territory there is first the centre at the base of the spine, the home of the sleeping fire.  Next we have the triple channel along which that fire will travel in due course of evolution, and finally we find at the summit of the column, and surmounting all, that small organ called the pineal gland, which when vivified causes the third eye to open, and the beauties of the higher, subtler planes to stand revealed.  All this physico-psychical occurrence is possible to man owing to certain events which happened to the Heavenly Serpent in the second, or serpent, round.  These happenings necessitated the formation and evolution of that peculiar and mysterious family we call the reptilian.  These forms of divine life are very intimately connected with the second planetary scheme, being responsive to energy emanating from that scheme, and reaching the earth via the second globe in the second chain.  A group of special devas (connected with a particular open sound in the planetary Word), work with the reptile evolution. (TCF 893-894)

 

 

b. Five Rules for the Astral Plane.  Before we take up the consideration of the second set of "Rules for Magic," I would like to make a few remarks anent the "eye of the Magician," to which reference has been earlier made.  One of the fundamental rules back of all magical processes is that no man is a magician or worker in white magic until the third eye is opened, or in process of opening, for it is by means of that eye that the thought form is energised, directed and controlled and the lesser builders or forces are swept into any particular line of activity.  Among the coming discoveries, and among the next revelations of materialistic science will be one which will concern itself with the force-directing faculty of the human eye, alone or collectively, and this will indicate one of the first stages towards the rediscovery of the third eye, or the "Eye of Shiva."  Shiva is, as we know, one of the names for the first great logoic aspect, and under that name is hidden much of esoteric moment.  Shiva stands for:

 

a. The Will aspect,

b. The Spirit aspect,

c. The Father in Heaven,

d. The directing purpose,

e. Conscious energy,

f. Dynamic intent,

 

[Page 1009]

and in the consideration of these phrases the innate faculties of the third eye will become apparent. (TCF 1008-1009)

 

 

The "Eye of Shiva" in the human being has its position, as is already known, in the centre of the forehead between the two physical eyes.3

 

 

It is not to be confounded with the pineal gland, which is distinctly a physical centre or gland.  The third eye exists in etheric matter, and is an etheric centre of force, being made of the substance of the ethers, whereas the pineal gland is formed of matter of the three lower subplanes of the physical plane.  The latter, nevertheless, has to be functioning more or less before the "Eye of Shiva" becomes in any degree active, and it is this fact that has led writers of occult books in the past purposely to confound the two, in order to protect the knowledge. (TCF 1009)

 

 

Second, through the co-ordinated activity of the major head centre, the many petalled lotus above the top of the head.  This centre directly affects the pineal gland, and the interplay of force behind the two (the correspondence, on a tiny scale, of the pairs of opposites, spirit and matter), produces the great organ of consciousness, the "Eye of Shiva."  It is the instrument of wisdom, and in these three centres of energy we have the correspondence of the three aspects within the head of man.

 

1. Major head centre...Will Aspect....Spirit...Father in Heaven

2. Pineal gland  Love-Wisdom aspect...Consciousness...Son

3. Third eye.  Activity aspect  Matter...Mother (TCF 1010)

 

 

The "Eye of Shiva," when perfected, is blue in colour, and as our solar Logos is the "Blue Logos" so do His children occultly resemble Him; but this colour must be interpreted esoterically.  It must be remembered also that prior to the final two Initiations (the sixth and seventh), the eye of the white magician, when developed, will be coloured according to the man's ray—again esoterically understood.  More anent this question of colour may not be communicated.  According to the colour, so will be the type of energy manipulated, but here it must be borne in mind that all magicians work with three types of energy:

 

a. That which is the same as their own Ray,

b. That which is complementary to their own type of force,

c. Their polar opposite,

 

and they work, therefore, either along the line of least resistance, or through attraction, and repulsion. (TCF 1011)

 

 

The reflection is that with which we are familiar; the appearance, or that which veils the reality, is contacted and known when we see with the eye of the soul, the Eye of Shiva, and the true colour14 is contacted after the fifth kingdom has been passed through, and group consciousness is merging in that of the divine.  Students will, therefore, note that the monadic cosmic wheel can be [Page 1092] visioned in terms of "true colour," and is seen by the illumined seer as the combined blending of the primary colours of the three solar systems. (TCF 1091-1092)

 

 

The eye of Shiva opens wide and those within its range of vision awaken to another form of sleep.  They sleep, but yet they see and hear; their eyes are closed, yet naught that passes in the greater cosmic Seven is missed by them.  They see, and yet they vision not; they hear and yet their ears are deaf.

 

Three times the eye of Shiva closes and three times it opens wide.  Thus three great groups of Lotus Lords are impelled upon Their way. (TCF 1272)

 

 

This latter aspect of the eye of Shiva directs the other two, and gathers all its energy from a far distant cosmic sphere.  The two respond, and in the treading of the cosmic WAY weave triple force into that path which meets the need of those who later seek to tread it. (TCF 1273)

 

 

3. The eye of Shiva—the all-seeing eye, the eye which directs the will and purposes of Deity.

 

These three are, in reality,

 

1. The eye of the Father—carrying light from the Great Bear.

2. The eye of the Son—carrying light from Sirius.

3. The eye of the Mother—carrying light from the Pleiades.

 

and it is this latter "light energy" which is necessarily peculiarity active when the sign of Taurus is dominant in any planetary and individual horoscope. (EA 430)

 

 

As the aspirant develops he becomes aware of the light.  I refer to the light in all forms, veiled by all sheaths and expressions of the divine life, and not just to the light within the aspirant himself.  As his awareness of this light increases so does the apparatus of vision develop, and the mechanism whereby he can see things in the spiritual light comes into being in the etheric body.

 

This is the eye of Shiva, for it is only fully utilized in the magical work when the monadic aspect, the will aspect, is controlling. (TWM 213)

 

The Third eye

 

As the intellect develops and the power to focus upon the mental plane grows, the fact of the soul's existence becomes known and the goal of attention changes. There follows the ability to focus in the soul consciousness and so to fuse the soul and the mind that an at-one-ment takes place and a man can then begin to think "in his heart." Then also the "eye of the soul" opens and energy from soul levels, intelligently utilised, becomes directed from those levels and pours into what is now [Page 290] ambiguously called "the third eye." Immediately the personality in the three worlds begins to express itself as the soul upon the physical plane, and will, purpose and love begin to control. (DINA II 289-290)

 

 

The third eye, not the pineal gland but its etheric correspondence. This is the responsive mechanism to the directing eye of the soul. (DINA II 290)

 

 

Let me now expand the concept further, reminding you of the phrase so oft employed, "the All-seeing Eye." This refers to the power of the planetary Logos to see into all parts, aspects and phases (in time and space) of His planetary vehicle, which is His physical body and to identify Himself with all the reactions and sensitivities of His created world and to participate with full knowledge in all events and happenings. Through what medium does He, on His own high levels, do this? Through what mechanism does He thus "see"? What is His organ of vision? What is the nature of the sight whereby He contacts the seven planes of His manifested universe? What is the organ, employed by Him, which corresponds to the third eye in man? The answer is as follows: the Monad is to the planetary Logos what the third eye is to man; this will become clearer to you if you will bear in mind that our seven planes are only the seven subplanes of the cosmic physical plane. The monadic world—so-called—is His organ of vision; it is also His directing agent for the life and light which must be poured into the phenomenal world. In the same way, the Monad is to the personality in the three worlds, also the source of its life and light. (DINA II 291)

 

 

 

3. The Monad is to the planetary Logos what the third eye is to man, esoterically understood. This is a most abstruse statement for all of you and will require much concentrated reflection and serene meditation. The vision of the solar Logos and of the planetary Logos is closely related to intention and purpose, and is the cause of the Plan. It is, however, beyond and different to the Plan. I leave this thought for your consideration and meditation, but can assure you that you will come to no easy or early comprehension.

 

Later on, as the years slip away and as students come and go, a clearer grasp of the techniques of comprehension—these emerging Points of Revelation—will form themes for prolonged meditation and doors of entrance to the new occultism. The foundations for this new occultism are well and soundly laid; the superstructure can be erected now, slowly and with due care, in conformity with the divine blueprints and in response to a sensitive reaction to spiritual impression. (DINA II 310)

 

 

A consideration of the three points of revelation already given may show you how deep may be the present mystery where each of these points is concerned. The mystery of the eye and its relation to light (esoterically understood) is very great, and as yet no student, no matter how diligent, knows anything about it. For instance, brother of mine, when the [Page 349] third eye, the inner eye, and the Monad are brought into direct alignment with "the Eye of God Himself," so that what the planetary Logos sees can be partially (at least) revealed to the initiate, who can tell what that revelation will bring of results and enlightenment? When the true nature of the will is comprehended and the self-will of the personality (of a very high order, necessarily), the will of the soul (as demonstrated by the activity of the highest tier or circle of the egoic petals), atma, expressing itself as the spiritual will, and Sanat Kumara are also brought, through initiation, into direct alignment, who, again, can predict what the revelation will be? When, again (as hinted on page 313), the myriad thoughtforms of the concrete or lower mind are seen as illusion, and the lower mind, the knowledge petals of the egoic lotus, the abstract mind and buddhi or pure reason are all brought into alignment with the Lords of Karma in a direct relationship and as signifying the ending of karma in the three worlds, who can foretell the nature of the ensuing revelation? It is alignment that holds the clue or the key to all these deeply spiritual events. (DINA II 348-349)

 

 

Let me express for you here—in their briefest form—the four points of Revelation already indicated, and then "in the Light" let us consider them as suggested earlier.

 

1. Energy follows thought and the eye directs the energy.

Involves the physical plane.

Relates to the first initiation.

Concerns the ajna centre and the so-called third eye.

 

2. The will is an expression of the Law of Sacrifice.

Involves the astral plane.

Relates to the second initiation.

Concerns the heart centre, the "advancing point of Light."

 

3. The Monad is to the planetary Logos what the third eye is to man.

[Page 370]

Involves the mental plane.

Relates to the third initiation.

Concerns the head centre, the light of Purpose. (DINA II 369-370)

 

 

Down upon the level of daily living, disciples are today learning three things: the Technique of Impression, the generating of energy, and the use of the ajna centre. Many are responsive to impression, but fail to recognise or use the energy of which the impression is simply the forerunner; others respond to the energy, but fail to register the Plan which it is intended to implement, and the energy then leads to great but fruitless activity. Still others are learning to use the centre between the eyebrows, standing as silent and poised recipients controlling the third eye, the directing agent of the received energy. It must be carefully borne in mind that the energy to be used is not the energy which the disciple himself generates or his own life force, but is something different, something which he has received from the Hierarchy and of which he is simply the agent or channel. He has therefore to learn to distinguish between the various energies he contacts. (DINA II 374)

 

 

The Monad is to the planetary Logos what the third eye is to man.

 

These are mysterious words and can only be understood if brought into relation with the previous revelation, involving the Will and the Law of Sacrifice. It should be remembered that the Law of Sacrifice (in its destroying aspect) is dominant during the second, the third and the fourth initiations. (DINA II 397)

 

 

The location of this particular point of revelation is on the mental plane; through the alignment of the concrete, lower mind, the Son of Mind and the abstract mind, a direct channel for vision is created. The medium of revelation at this initiation is the antahkarana, which is rapidly being constructed and can thus prove the connecting link and the esoteric mode of vision. The instrument of reception is the third eye which—for a moment—is temporarily suspended from its task of directing energy upon the physical plane and then becomes a stationary, receptive organ, turned inward toward the higher light. The head centre is therefore involved, and a secondary alignment takes place between the ajna centre, the head centre and the soul body. All this takes place at a high point during the third initiation; for the first time in his personal history the initiate is completely [Page 400] aligned and can function straight through from the head centre to the highest point of the Spiritual Triad. You have, therefore, the reason for the sudden inflow of transfiguring glory. (DINA II 399-400)

 

 

You will note, therefore, how this information—by pointing out the attitude of the third eye during this initiatory process and its new function in relation to the Monad—throws fresh light upon the work of the Monad. This third eye is now receptive to light from the highest source, is arresting in its outward-going activity and functions like a lens for the reflection of light and for the attaining of the highest possible inner vision for the particular point in evolution reached. All this embodies an activity which (except in the case of the highest initiates) remains very mysterious. However, a study of the use of the third eye at the third initiation will bring illumination of the teaching that the Monad is to the planetary Logos what the third eye (in its initiatory function) is to the disciple of the third degree of initiation. (DINA II 400)

 

 

The Monad is the source of light, not only to the human family, but it is the receiver of light from the threefold Sun; it is the lens through which the light of the solar Logos can flow to the planetary Logos, preserving and holding steady in that light the vision, the purpose, the will and the creative intention of the planetary Logos.

 

More along this line I may not convey to you. I can only give veiled suggestions and formulate for you certain phrases or seed thoughts which (if duly considered and reflected upon) will begin to train your perception and develop the third eye, enabling it to reorient itself and change its function when the right time and the correct emergency come.

 

I have told you that these points of revelation are the germ or seed of a certain invocative potency; this is especially true and correct where the teaching anent the third eye is concerned. Initiation is not an abstract, mystical process to [Page 401] which the disciple is subjected upon some one or other of the subtler planes, the knowledge of which must gradually seep through into his consciousness. This may be partially true of the first two initiations (the Sirian initiations of the threshold), but all the remaining initiations involve the whole man and "three periodical vehicles," producing a steady fusion of these three, an increasing reaction to the Light of the World, and an ability to register in the physical brain (if the initiate is functioning through karma, decision or service in the physical body) that which is undergone; in this registration process the third eye is acutely involved. From the time of the third initiation this third eye is subjected to training and begins to function in the two following ways:

 

1. It is (in a measure) a correspondence to the concrete mind, with its capacity to interpret environment and experience.

 

2. It can also act as a lens or a light-gatherer from the inner and higher worlds. (DINA II 400-401)

 

 

It will have become apparent to all occult students who have studied with care the world processes in the light of the law of correspondences, that the Logos on the cosmic planes is evolving inner cosmic vision, just as man in his lesser degree is aiming at the same vision in the system.  This might be called the development of the cosmic third eye.  In the physical plane structure of the eye lies hid the secret and in its study may come some revelation of the mystery. (IHS 189)

 

 

On the surface, the expression "the eye which looks out from between the two seems to signify the third eye, which clairvoyants utilise, but the meaning is very much deeper than that, and lies hidden in the following facts:—

 

a. That the inner vision is that which all self-conscious beings, from a Logos to a man, are in the process of developing. 

b. That the Ego, or Higher Self, is literally to the Monad what the third eye is to man, and therefore is described as looking out from between the Monad or spiritual self on the one hand, and the personal self on the other.

 

In the fullest sense, therefore, this rule incites the applicant to develop self-consciousness, and thus learn to function in the causal body on the higher levels of the mental plane, controlling from thence all the lower vehicles and seeing clearly all that can be seen in the three worlds, in the past and in the future.   (IHS 207)

 

 

It is that clear apprehension of knowledge and a perfect comprehension of the things of the soul which is characteristic of the man who—through concentration and meditation—has achieved mind control.  The mind then becomes the window of the soul, and through it the spiritual man can look out onto a new and higher realm of knowledge.  Simultaneously with the development of this type of vision, the pineal gland becomes active, and the third eye (in etheric matter) develops with a paralleling activity. (LOTS 69)

 

 

6. The third eye is in process of unfoldment.  Later, as the centres are awakened and brought into conscious control, they place the man en rapport with the various energy septenates in the seven planes of the system, and because the truth-perceiving faculty is developed, the man is thereby safeguarded from error and from danger. (LOTS 109)

 

 

The light in the head increases in a corresponding degree and the third eye develops and functions.  On the astral and mental plane a corresponding [Page 254] "eye" develops, and thus the ego or soul can illumine all the three planes in the three worlds as well as the soul realm. (LOTS 253-254)

 

 

In studying these results of meditation in the psychic realm, it should be borne in mind that the eight means of yoga do produce definite effects in the lower nature and that this causes certain unfoldments and experiences to take place; these put the aspirant more consciously en rapport with the interior planes in the three worlds.  This is a safe and necessary process provided it is the outcome of the awakening of the man on his own plane, and the turning of the eye of the soul, via the mind and the third eye, upon these planes.  The presence of the lower psychic power may, however, mean that the soul is (from the physical plane standpoint) asleep and unable to use its instrument, and that these experiences are therefore only the result of the activity of the solar plexus producing awareness of the astral plane.  This type of psychism is a reversion to the animal state and to the child stage of the human race.  It is undesirable and dangerous. (LOTS 258)

 

 

With him, the intuition has been developed into a usable instrument, and direct apprehension of all knowledge, independently of the reasoning faculty [Page 354] or rationalizing mind is his privilege and right.  The mind need no longer be used to apprehend reality, the senses need no longer be employed as mediums of contact.  He will employ all six but in a different manner.  The mind will be utilized as a transmitter to the brain of the wishes, and plans and purposes of the one Master, the Christ within; the five senses will be transmitters of different types of energy to the chosen objectives, and herein opens up a vast field of study for the interested investigator.  The eye is one of the most potent transmitters of energy, and it was the knowledge of this in the olden days which gave rise to the belief anent the evil eye.  There is much to be discovered concerning sight for this study will include not only physical vision, but the development of the third eye, clairvoyance, perfect spiritual vision and on up to that inconceivable mystery covered by the terms the "All-seeing Eye" and the "Eye of Shiva."  The hands are potent factors in all magical work of healing and utilization of the sense of touch is an esoteric science.  The sublimation of the sense of hearing and its utilization to hear the Voice of the Silence, or the music of the spheres, is a department of occult teaching of the most profound kind and those adepts who have specialized in the science of sight, and the science of sound are some of the most erudite and advanced in the hierarchy. (LOTS 354)

 

 

It is interesting here to note that as the brain and the mind became coordinated, (as was first the case in Lemurian days) the sense of sight was simultaneously developed.  As evolution proceeds, a higher coordination takes place, and the soul and the mind become at-oned.  Then, that organ of subtle vision (the third eye) begins to function, and instead of mind, brain, and two eyes, another triplicity supersedes and we have soul, mind and the third eye.  The brain, therefore, is not the source of illumination but becomes aware of the light of the soul and of what it reveals in the realm of the soul.  The third eye simultaneously develops and admits its possessor into the secrets of the subtler realms in the three worlds, so that the brain receives illumination, information and knowledge from two directions; from the soul via the mind, and from the subtler planes in the three worlds via the third eye.  It should be remembered here that the third eye reveals primarily the light to be found in the heart of every form of divine manifestation. (LOTS 413)

 

 

It has also been suggested that this gland regulates our susceptibility to light, that it has a definite effect upon the sex nature, that it is related to brain growth and that its active functioning [Page 42] causes intellectual precocity as is clearly indicated in the historic case discussed below. This gland has also been called the third eye, and the eye of the Cyclops. Beyond these facts or conjectures, investigators frankly say they know nothing, and experiments have produced little information. In the experiment of feeding pineal gland extract to children and to defectives the response was nothing when the subject was over fifteen years of age, and contradictory in all other cases, so deduction was impossible. (SAIM 41-42)

 

 

The secret of life lies hidden in the serpent stage,—not the life of the Spirit, but the life of the soul, and this will be revealed as the "serpent of the astral light" is truly approached, and duly studied.  One of the four Lipika Lords, Who stand nearest to our planetary Logos, is called "The Living Serpent," and His emblem is a serpent of blue with one eye, in the form of a ruby, in its head.  Students who care to carry the symbology a little further can connect this idea with the "eye of Shiva" which sees and knows all, and records all, as [Page 894] does the human eye in lesser degree; all is photographed upon the astral light, as the human eye receives impressions upon the retina.  The same thought is frequently conveyed in the Christian Bible, in the Hebrew and Christian recognition of the all-seeing eye of God.  The application and value of the hints here given may be apparent if the subject of the third eye is studied, and its relation to the spine, and the spinal currents investigated.  This third eye is one of the objects of kundalinic vivification, and in the spinal territory there is first the centre at the base of the spine, the home of the sleeping fire.  Next we have the triple channel along which that fire will travel in due course of evolution, and finally we find at the summit of the column, and surmounting all, that small organ called the pineal gland, which when vivified causes the third eye to open, and the beauties of the higher, subtler planes to stand revealed.  All this physico-psychical occurrence is possible to man owing to certain events which happened to the Heavenly Serpent in the second, or serpent, round.  These happenings necessitated the formation and evolution of that peculiar and mysterious family we call the reptilian.  These forms of divine life are very intimately connected with the second planetary scheme, being responsive to energy emanating from that scheme, and reaching the earth via the second globe in the second chain.  A group of special devas (connected with a particular open sound in the planetary Word), work with the reptile evolution. (TCF 893-894)

 

 

Man, at present, is fully conscious, through some one or other of his senses, on the three lower subplanes; it is intended that he shall be equally conscious on the four higher.  This has to be brought about by the stimulation of the deva substance which composes his bodies.  This will be accomplished through the dynamic will of the transmitting devas as they energise the manipulatory devas, and thus affect the myriads of lesser lives which compose man's body, and also by an increased responsiveness of the indwelling man or thinker to the contact made upon his body.  This increased awareness will be brought about by the arousing of the fifth spirilla, by the unfolding of the fifth petal in the egoic lotus, and by the gradual opening of the third eye through the arousing and uniform activity of five factors:  the centre at the base of the spine, the three channels in the spinal column, and the pineal gland. (TCF 907)

 

 

By means of the pineal gland,89 [89: The Pineal Gland.  The Third eye.—S. D., III, 548} the organ of spiritual perception, man ascertains the will and purpose of the Ego, and from thence he draws the necessary energy [Page 966] from the higher levels, via the head centre and the sutratma.

 

By means of the pituitary body, the second element of desire or of the form-building energy, becomes available, and under the law of attraction he can mould, and build in deva substance.

 

When the alta major centre, the synthesis of what might be called nervous energy, is awake, it becomes possible for him to materialise and activate the desired form which, through attractive energy, he is in process of constructing. (TCF 965-966)

 

 

Hence the occult significance of all the processes occultly involved in sight, can be seen.  As long as the eye of the Creator is upon that which is created, just so long does it persist; let the Creator withdraw "the light of his countenance" and the death of the thought form ensues, for vitality or energy follows the line of the eye.  When, therefore, a man, in meditation, considers his work and builds his thought form for service, he is occultly looking, and consequently energising; he begins to use the third eye in its secondary aspect.  The third or spiritual eye has several functions.  Amongst others, it is the organ of illumination, the unveiled eye of the soul, through which light and illumination comes into the mind, and thus the entire lower life becomes irradiated.  It is also the organ through which pours the directing energy [Page 975] which streams out from the conscious creating adept to the instruments of service, his thought-forms.

 

The little evolved do not, of course, employ the third eye for the stimulating of their thought forms.  The energy used by them in the majority of cases originates in the solar plexus, and works in two directions, either via the organs of generation, or through the physical eyes.  In many people these three points—the lower organs, the solar plexus, and the physical eyes—form a triangle of force, around which the stream of energy flows before going out to the objectivised thought form.  In the aspirant, and the man who is intellectual, the triangle may be from the solar plexus, to the throat centre and thence to the eyes.  Later, as the aspirant grows in knowledge and purity of motive, the triangle of energy will have the heart for its lowest point instead of the solar plexus, and the third eye will begin to do its work, though as yet very imperfectly.

 

Just as long as the "Eye" is directed to the created form, the current of force will be transmitted to it, and the more one-pointed the man may be the more this energy will be centralised and effective.  Much of the ineffectiveness of people is due to the fact that their interests are not centralised but very diffuse, and no one thing engrosses their attention.  They scatter their energy and are attempting to satisfy every wandering desire, and to dabble in everything which comes their way.  Therefore, no thought they think ever assumes a proper form, or is ever duly energised.  They are consequently surrounded by a dense cloud of half-formed disintegrating thought forms and clouds of partially energised matter in process of dissolution.  This produces occultly a condition similar to the decay of a physical form, and is equally unpleasant and unwholesome.  It accounts for much of the diseased condition of the human family at this time. (TCF 975-976)

 

 

In contemplation, the inner eye is fixed upon the object of contemplation, and this produces (unconsciously in most cases) a steady stream of energy which is focussed upon the objective, producing vitalisation and activity.  It is the basis of the "work of transmutation," for instance, when the human substance is transmuted into solar substance.  The Ego contemplates his lunar bodies, and gradually the work is accomplished.  When his reflection, man, has reached a point in evolution where he can meditate and contemplate, the work is more rapidly accelerated, and transmutation proceeds with rapidity, particularly on the physical plane.  In the work of thought-form building, the man, in contemplation, pursues the work of energising and vitalising.  It might here be said that the eye is the great directing agency.  When the third eye is used, which is the case in contemplation, it is the synthesiser and director of triple energy; hence the powerful work performed by those in whom it is functioning.  The third eye only begins to function when the third circle of egoic petals is beginning slowly to unfold.

 

If students will study the effect of the human eye on the physical plane, and then extend the concept to the work of the interior Thinker, as he utilises the third eye, they will get an interesting light upon the subject of thought control.  The old Commentary says:

 

"When the eye is blind, the forms created revolve in circles and fulfill not the law.  When the eye is open, force streams forth, direction is assured, fulfillment is certain, and the plans proceed under law; the eye which is blue in color, and the eye which sees not red, when open, produce that which is intended with great facility."

 (TCF 1007)

 

 

b. Five Rules for the Astral Plane.  Before we take up the consideration of the second set of "Rules for Magic," I would like to make a few remarks anent the "eye of the Magician," to which reference has been earlier made.  One of the fundamental rules back of all magical processes is that no man is a magician or worker in white magic until the third eye is opened, or in process of opening, for it is by means of that eye that the thought form is energised, directed and controlled and the lesser builders or forces are swept into any particular line of activity.  Among the coming discoveries, and among the next revelations of materialistic science will be one which will concern itself with the force-directing faculty of the human eye, alone or collectively, and this will indicate one of the first stages towards the rediscovery of the third eye, or the "Eye of Shiva."  Shiva is, as we know, one of the names for the first great logoic aspect, and under that name is hidden much of esoteric moment.  Shiva stands for:

 

a. The Will aspect,

b. The Spirit aspect,

c. The Father in Heaven,

d. The directing purpose,

e. Conscious energy,

f. Dynamic intent,

 

[Page 1009]

and in the consideration of these phrases the innate faculties of the third eye will become apparent.

 

The "Eye of Shiva" in the human being has its position, as is already known, in the centre of the forehead between the two physical eyes.3

 

It is not to be confounded with the pineal gland, which is distinctly a physical centre or gland.  The third eye exists in etheric matter, and is an etheric centre of force, being made of the substance of the ethers, whereas the pineal gland is formed of matter of the three lower subplanes of the physical plane.  The latter, nevertheless, has to be functioning more or less before the "Eye of Shiva" becomes in any degree active, and it is this fact that has led writers of occult books in the past purposely to confound the two, in order to protect the knowledge.

 

The third eye is formed through the activity of three factors:

 

First, through the direct impulse of the Ego on its own plane.  During the greater part of evolution the Ego makes its contact with its reflection, physical plane man, through the centre at the top of the head.  When man is more highly evolved, and is nearing or treading the Path, the indwelling Self takes a more complete grasp of its lower vehicle, and descends to a point in the head or brain which is found approximately in the centre of the forehead.  This is its lowest contact.  It is interesting here to note the correspondence with the evolution of the senses.  The three major senses and the three first to demonstrate in order are, hearing, touch, sight.  For the greater part of evolution, hearing is the guiding impulse of human life through egoic contact with the top of the head.  Later, when the Ego descends a little lower, the etheric centre which is active in connection with the pituitary body, is added, and man becomes responsive [Page 1010] to subtler and higher vibrations; the occult correspondence to the physical sense of touch awakens.  Finally, the third eye opens and the pineal gland simultaneously begins to function.  At first, the sight is dim, and the gland is only partially responsive to vibration, but gradually the eye opens fully, the gland is fully active, and we have the "fully awakened" man.  When this is the case, the alta major centre vibrates and then the three physical head centres are functioning.

 

Second, through the co-ordinated activity of the major head centre, the many petalled lotus above the top of the head.  This centre directly affects the pineal gland, and the interplay of force behind the two (the correspondence, on a tiny scale, of the pairs of opposites, spirit and matter), produces the great organ of consciousness, the "Eye of Shiva."  It is the instrument of wisdom, and in these three centres of energy we have the correspondence of the three aspects within the head of man.

 

1. Major head centre...Will Aspect....Spirit...Father in Heaven

2. Pineal gland  Love-Wisdom aspect...Consciousness...Son

3. Third eye.  Activity aspect  Matter...Mother

 

The third eye is the director of energy or force, and thus an instrument of the will or Spirit; it is responsive only to that will as controlled by the Son-aspect, the revealer of the love-wisdom nature of gods and man, and it is therefore the sign of the white magician.

 

Third, the reflex action of the pineal gland itself. (TCF 1008-1010)

 

 

In meditation, by the sounding of the word, the student awakens response in the major head centre, causes reciprocal vibration between it and the physical head centre, and gradually co-ordinates the forces in the head.  Through the practice of the power of visualisation, the third eye is developed.  The forms visualised, and the ideas and abstractions which are, in the process, mentally clothed and vehicled, are pictured a few inches from the third eye.  It is the knowledge of this which causes the Eastern yogi to speak of "concentration upon the tip of the nose."  Behind this misleading phrase a great truth is veiled. (TCF 1012)

 

 

Another factor which must be allowed for in advanced stages of development, is the third eye which is to the occultist and true white magician what the fourth energy centre (the jewel in the lotus) is to the lotus, or to the three tiers of petals.  The correspondence is interesting:

 

The jewel in the lotus is the director of energy from the monad, whilst the third eye directs the energy of the Ego on the physical plane.

The jewel in the Lotus is the centre of force which links [Page 1130] the buddhic and mental planes.  When it is to be seen and felt, the man can function consciously on the buddhic plane.  The third eye links the awakened physical plane man with the astral or subjective world, and enables him to function consciously there.

The jewel, or diamond concealed by the egoic lotus, is the window of the Monad or Spirit whereby he looks outward into the three worlds.  The third eye is the window of the Ego or soul functioning on the physical plane whereby he looks inward into the three worlds.

 

The jewel in the lotus is situated between manas and buddhi whilst the third eye is found between the right and left eyes. (TCF 1029-1030)

 

 

Man, when he reaches this stage, is a creator in mental matter of a calibre different from the unconsciously working average man.  He constructs in unison with the plan and the divine Manasaputra, the Son of Mind, will turn his attention from being a Son of Power in the three worlds and centre his attention in the Spiritual Triad, thus recapitulating on a higher turn of the spiral, the work he earlier did as man.  This becomes possible when the growth of the triangle just above dealt with (base of spine, alta major centre and throat, as they unify in the head) is paralleled by another triplicity, the solar plexus, the heart and the third eye; the energy merging through them is similarly unified in the same head centre.  The third eye is an energy centre constructed by man; it is a correspondence to the energy centre, the causal body, constructed by the Monad.  The alta major centre is similarly constructed by other streams of force and corresponds interestingly to the triple form constructed by the ego in the three worlds. (TCF 1160)

 

 

Saturn is of interest to us here because the Logos of Saturn holds a position in the body logoic similar to that held by the throat centre in the microcosm.  Three centres towards the close of manifestation will become aligned in the same way as the centre at the base of the spine, the throat centre and the alta major centre.  Here it must be pointed out that there are three planetary schemes which [Page 1164] hold a place analogous to that held by the pineal gland, the pituitary body, and the alta major centre, but they are not the schemes referred to as centres, or known to us as informed by planetary Logoi.  Certain of the planetoids have their place here, and one scheme which has passed out of activity, and is in a condition of quiescence and nonactivity.  This latter scheme is the correspondence in the logoic body to the atrophied third eye in the fourth kingdom of nature.  When man has developed etheric vision and thus has expanded his range of vision, he will become aware of these facts, for he will see.  Many planetary schemes which are found only in etheric matter will be revealed to his astonished gaze, and he will find that (as in the body microcosmic) there are seven (or ten), paramount centres but numbers of other centres for the purpose of energising various organs.  So likewise the body macrocosmic has myriads of energy focal points or feeders which have their place, their function, and their felt effects.  These centres, with no dense physical globe, constitute what has sometimes been called "the inner round" and transmit their force through those greater centres which have been spoken of in occult books as having a connection with the inner round. (TCF 1163-1164)

 

 

[Page 1254]

1. Cosmic vision.  These adepts are connected with the logoic third eye.

2. Deva hearing.

3. Psychic correlation. (TCF 1254)

 

 

Within the next few years the fact of persistence and of the eternity of existence will have advanced out of the realm of questioning into the realm of certainty.  The problem will have shifted further back.  There will be no question in anyone's mind that the discarding of the physical body will leave a man still a conscious living entity.  He will be known to be perpetuating his existence in a realm lying behind the physical.  He will be known to be still alive, awake and aware.  This fact will be demonstrated in several ways.  The development of a power within the physical eye of a human being (a power which has always been there, but which has been very little used) will reveal the etheric body, the "double," as it is sometimes called; and men [Page 184] will be seen occupying that body in some definite spatial area whilst their dead or disintegrating physical body has been left behind.  Then again, the growth in the number of those people who have the power to use the "single eye," sometimes called the "reawakened third eye," will also add to the demonstration of the truth of immortality, for they will with facility see the man who has discarded his etheric body as well as his physical body.  By the very weight of their numbers, and by the reputability of their position, they will carry their point.  Through a discovery also in the field of photography, now being investigated, will the fact of survival be proven.  Through the use of the radio by those who have passed over will communication be eventually set up, and reduced to a true science. (EP I 183-184)

 

 

The mineral kingdom is governed astrologically by Taurus, and there is a symbolic relation between the "eye" in the head of the Bull, the third eye, the light in the head, and the diamond.  The consciousness of the Buddha has been called the "diamond-eye." (EP I 230)

 

 

In Taurus—Desire is transmuted into aspiration, darkness gives place to light and illumination, the eye of the Bull is opened which is the spiritual third eye, or the "single eye" of the New Testament. "If thine eye be single," said the Christ, "thy whole body shall be full of light." This single eye takes the place of the two eyes of the personal self. The attention of the man becomes focussed upon spiritual attainment. He treads the Path of Discipleship. [Fulfillment and satiety]. (EA 143)

 

 

Let me pause a moment here to point out that in this study of the Triangles it is not possible for us to do more than study certain of the major groups of triangles and a few of the most important triangles where humanity itself is concerned. It is of value for human beings to realise that there are other evolutions and other forms of logoic expression of equal importance to their own. There is, in truth, a veritable multiplicity of triangles. For the triangle is the basic geometric form of all manifestation and it is to be seen (by those who have eyes to see) underlying the entire fabric of manifestation, whether it is the manifestation of a solar system, the manifestation of the zodiacal round, the cosmic triplicities or the tiny reflection of this divine triple whole which we call man. When the human being is manifest but is not yet truly manifested, the triangles which symbolise this manifestation are the two eyes and the third eye:

 

1. The right eye—the eye of buddhi, of wisdom and of vision.

2. The left eye—the eye of mind, of the commonsense and of sight.

[Page 430]

3. The eye of Shiva—the all-seeing eye, the eye which directs the will and purposes of Deity. (EA 429-430)

 

 

b. Mercury brings in that quick and intuitive mind which interprets experience, fosters the growth of the intuition and relates the inner spiritual man to the outer human being in such a way that their future unity of purpose, plan and effort is assured. Mercury brings about those changes in mental perception which eventually enable humanity to act as the mediating interpreter between the higher worlds and the three lower kingdoms in nature; thus Mercury institutes the threefold activity of this centre in the body of the Heavenly Man which we struggle to perceive and comprehend, and which we regard as forming the three phases of the mind:

 

1. The abstract mind—pure manas.

2. The Son of Mind—soul, manasaputra.

3. The concrete mind—mental body.

 

and their correspondences in substance-energy:

 

1. The right eye.

2. The left eye.

3. The third eye. (EA 436)

 

 

The art of the healer is concerned with the lifting of the downward focussed eyes unto the soul, the Healer within the form.  The spiritual or third eye then directs the healing force, and all is well. (EH 120)

 

 

Disease, both physical and psychological, has its roots in the good, the beautiful and the true.  It is but a distorted rejection of divine possibilities.  The thwarted soul, seeking full expression of some divine characteristic or inner spiritual reality, produces within the substance of its sheaths a point of friction.  Upon this point the eyes of the personality are focussed, and this leads to disease.  The art of the healer is concerned with the lifting of the downward focussed eyes unto the soul, the Healer within the form.  The spiritual or third eye then directs the healing force, and all is well. (EH 134)

 

 

The Third eye     the head centre         Will.     Atma.

The eye of the Father, the Monad.  SHAMBALLA.

The first aspect of will or power and purpose.

Related to the pineal gland.

 

The Right Eye            the ajna centre           Love.   Buddhi.

The eye of the Son, the Soul.           HIERARCHY.

The second aspect of love-wisdom.

Related to the pituitary body.

 

The Left Eye  the throat centre        Active Intelligence.

The eye of the Mother, the personality.       HUMANITY.

The third aspect of intelligence.

Related to the carotid gland. (EH 148)

 

 

a. The throat centre is ruled by Saturn just as the two head centres are ruled respectively by Uranus (ruling the head centre) and Mercury (ruling the ajna centre).  This is only where the disciple is concerned; the rulership changes after the third initiation or before the first.  These three planets constitute a most interesting triangle of forces and in the following triplicities and their inevitable inter-relations you have—again only in the case of disciples—a most amazing picture story or symbol of the ninefold of initiation:

            1. The head centre

                The ajna centre

                The throat centre

            2. The third eye

                The right eye

                The left eye

            3. The pineal gland

                The pituitary body

                The carotid gland

 

thus presenting the mechanism through which the Spiritual Triad, the soul and the personality work. [Page 152] The key to a right understanding of process lies in the relation of the three planets:  Uranus, Mercury and Saturn, as they pour their energies through these nine "points of spiritual contact" upon the physical plane into the "grounded sphere of light and power which is the man in time and space." (EH 151-152)

 

 

Those diseases which are loosely called mental diseases, and which are related to the brain, are little understood as yet.  There was very little mental trouble in the last rootrace, the Atlantean; the mind nature was then quiescent and little stimulation was conveyed through mental [Page 200] levels via the head centre to the pineal gland and the brain.  There was very little eye trouble either, and no nasal difficulties, for the ajna centre was unawakened and the third eye rapidly becoming inactive.  The ajna centre is the organ of the integrated personality, the instrument of direction, and is closely related to the pituitary body and the two eyes, as well as to all the frontal areas of the head.  In Atlantean days, personality integration was largely unknown, except in the case of disciples and initiates, and the goal of the initiate then, and the sign of his achievement, was this triple integration.  Today, the goal is that of a still higher fusion—that of the soul and personality.  Speaking in terms of energy, this involves the formation, activity and related interplay of the following triangles of force:

 

I. 1. The soul, the spiritual man on his own plane.

2. The personality, the threefold integrated man in the three worlds.

3. The head centre.

 

II. 1. The head centre, the point of the second fusion.

2. The ajna centre, the point of the first fusion.

3. The centre in the medulla oblongata, controlling the spine.

 

III. 1. The pineal gland, the externalisation of the head centre.

2. The pituitary body, related to the ajna centre.

3. The carotid gland, the externalisation of the third head centre. (EH 199-200)

 

 

b. The growth of the number of people who have the power to use the "reawakened third eye" will demonstrate immortality, for they will with facility see the [Page 413] man who has discarded his etheric body as well as his physical body. (EH 412-413)

 

 

6. Power to direct soul energy to the necessary area.  "The spiritual or the third eye then directs the healing force."  This presupposes a scientific technique on the healer's part and the right functioning of the mechanism of received and directed force within the head. (EH 525)

 

 

Disease, both physical and psychological, has its roots in the good, the beautiful, and the true.  It is but a distorted rejection of divine possibilities.  The thwarted soul, seeking full expression of some divine characteristic or inner spiritual reality, produces, within the substance of its sheaths, a point of friction.  Upon this Point the eyes of the personality are focussed and this leads to disease.  The art of the healer is concerned with the lifting of the downward focussed eyes unto the soul, the true Healer within the form.  The spiritual or third eye then directs the healing force and all is well. (EH 533)

 

 

Disease, both Physical and Psychological, has its roots in the good, the beautiful, and the true.  It is but a distorted reflection of divine possibilities.  The thwarted soul, seeking full expression of some divine characteristic or inner spiritual reality, produces—within the substance of its sheaths—a point of friction.  Upon this point the eyes of the personality are focussed, and this leads to disease.  The art of the healer is concerned with the lifting of the downward focussed eyes unto the soul, the true Healer within the form.  The spiritual or third eye then directs the healing force, and all is well. (EH 564)

 

 

It might be of interest to you to correlate what I have said in my other writing anent the eyes with the point made above.  As you well know, and as stated in The Secret Doctrine, the right eye is the "eye of buddhi" and the left eye is the "eye of manas"—this (when in relation to buddhi) referring to the higher mind and to man as he finally will appear.  In the average human being, and before reaching perfection, the right eye transmits the energy of the astral body when directed consciously towards an object of attention, and the left eye directs the energy of the lower mind. In between these two directing eyes is to be found the ajna centre, which is like a third eye or directing agent for the blended and fused energies of the personality; related to this third eye as it awakens and comes into functioning activity is what we call "the eye of the soul"; this is a point within the highest head centre.  This eye of the soul can and does transmit energy to the ajna centre and is itself the agent (before the fourth initiation) of the energy of the Spiritual Triad. This esoteric relationship is only set up when the soul is dominating its instrument, the personality, and is bringing all the lower activities upon the physical plane under soul direction.

 

In the perfected man, there is to be found, therefore, the following distributors or distributing agents of energy:

 

1. The eye of the soul            agent of the Spiritual Triad   Will.

2. The third eye               agent of the soul        Love.

3. The right eye                      distributor of buddhic energy.

4. The left eye                        conveyor of pure manasic energy.

5. The ajna centre                 focussing and directing point for all these energies. (EH 571)

 

 

In the disciple and the man who is beginning to function as a soul, you will have:

 

1. The third eye   distributor of soul energy.

2. The right eye          agent for astral energy.

3. The left eye            agent for lower mental energy.

4. The ajna centre     focussing point of these three energies.

 

In the average man, the situation will be as follows:

 

1. The right eye          agent for astral energy.

2. The left eye            agent for mental energy.

3. The ajna centre     distributing station.

 

As occult knowledge increases a whole science of energy distribution will be built up around the eyes and their symbolic function, and their esoteric use will be understood.  The time has not yet arrived for this, though already the power of the human eye when focussed on a person, for instance, is known to attract attention.  One hint I can give you:  the optic nerve is a symbol of the antahkarana, and the entire structure of the eye ball is one of the most beautiful symbols of the threefold deity and the threefold man. (EH 572)

 

 

5. The third eye then directs the healing force, and all is well.

 

The third eye referred to here is that of the healer and not that of the average patient; this the healer uses in conjunction with the eye of the soul.  In the case of the healing of a very advanced person who is consciously able to cooperate, the third eye of the patient can also be active, and by this means two very potent streams of directed energy can penetrate into the area where the point of friction is located.  In ordinary cases, however, and where no occult knowledge is present on the part of the patient, the healer does all the work, and this is desirable.  The cooperation of the unskilled and those emotionally involved in their trouble is of no true assistance. (EH 575)

 

 

3. The use of the "eye."  This is not in reality the third eye (which is after all only a symbolic phrase), but the [Page 228] ability to use developed soul power.  This is that intermediate potency found between the power of the mind and the dynamic electric energy of pure will. (R&I 227-228)

 

 

The centre between the eyebrows, commonly called the third eye has a unique and peculiar function.  As I have pointed out elsewhere, students must not confound the pineal gland with the third eye.  They are related, but not the same.  In The Secret Doctrine they are apparently [Page 213] regarded as the same, and the casual reader can easily confound them but they are by no means identical.  This H. P. B. knew, but the apparent confusion was permitted until more of the etheric nature of forms was known.  The third eye manifests as a result of the vibratory interaction between the forces of the soul, working through the pineal gland, and the forces of the personality, working through the pituitary body.  These negative and positive forces interact, and when potent enough produce the light in the head.  Just as the physical eye came into being in response to the light of the sun so the spiritual eye equally comes into being in response to the light of the spiritual sun.  As the aspirant develops he becomes aware of the light.  I refer to the light in all forms, veiled by all sheaths and expressions of the divine life, and not just to the light within the aspirant himself.  As his awareness of this light increases so does the apparatus of vision develop, and the mechanism whereby he can see things in the spiritual light comes into being in the etheric body. (TWM 2120213)

 

 

By means of the third eye the soul accomplishes three activities:

 

1. It is the eye of vision.  By its means, the spiritual man sees behind the forms of all aspects of divine expression.  He becomes aware of the light of the world, and contacts the soul within all forms.  Just as the physical eye registers forms, so does the spiritual eye register the illumination within those forms which "illumination" indicates a specific state of being.  It opens up the world of radiance.

 

2. It is the controlling factor of the magical work.  All white magical work is carried forward with a definitely constructive purpose, made possible through the use of the intelligent will.  In other words, the soul knows the [Page 214] plan, and when the alignment is right and the attitude correct, the will aspect of the divine man can function and bring about results in the three worlds.  The organ used is the third eye.  The analogy to this can be seen in the often noticed power of the human eye as it controls other human beings and animals by a look, and through steady gazing can act magnetically.  Force flows through the focused human eye.  Force flows through the focused third eye.

 

3. It has a destructive aspect and the energy flowing through the third eye can have a disintegrating and destroying effect.  It can, through its focused attention, directed by the intelligent will, drive out physical matter.  It is the agent of the soul in the purificatory work.

 

It should be noted here that in each of the subtle bodies in the three worlds there is a corresponding point of focus, and the centre between the eyebrows is but the physical counterpart (for etheric matter is physical) of inner correspondences.

 

Through this point of focus the soul looks out upon, or contemplates the mental plane, including the mental mechanism.  Similarly on the emotional plane, the soul is brought into a state of awareness or vision of its emotional sheath and the world of astral phenomena, and the physical parallel exists for the etheric body.

 

It is this third work of the soul that is touched upon here, the destructive work of getting rid of the old forms, of shaking out of the bodies matter of an undesirable nature and of breaking down the barriers and limitations to true soul activity.

 

These three activities of the soul, through the medium of the third eye, are the correspondences to the three aspects, and students would find it of interest to work these out.

 

The seeing of the light within all forms through the agency of the third eye (brought into being through the realization of the light in the head, the spiritual light) is [Page 215] but the correspondence to the physical eye, revealing forms in the light of the physical sun.  This corresponds to the personality.

 

The aspect of control through magnetic energy and the attractive force in the spiritual eye, which is the dominant factor in magical work, is the correspondence to the soul.  In a most mysterious sense, the soul is the eye of the monad, enabling the monad, which is pure Being, to work, to contact, to know, and to see.

 

The aspect of destruction is the correspondence to the monad or will aspect; in the last analysis it is the monad that brings about the final abstraction, destroys all forms, withdraws itself from manifestation and ends the cycle of creative work.

 

Bringing these concepts down to practical expression in relation to the Rule under consideration, it can be noted that all these three activities are dealt with in this Rule.  The third eye opens as the result of conscious development, right alignment and the inflow of soul life.  Then its magnetic controlling force makes itself felt, controlling the lives of the lower bodies, driving forth the lower four elementals (of earth, water, fire, air) and forcing the lunar lords to abdicate.  The personality, which has hitherto been the master, no longer can control, and the soul comes into full domination in the three worlds. (TWM 214-215)

 

 

 

Bringing these concepts down to practical expression in relation to the Rule under consideration, it can be noted that all these three activities are dealt with in this Rule.  The third eye opens as the result of conscious development, right alignment and the inflow of soul life.  Then its magnetic controlling force makes itself felt, controlling the lives of the lower bodies, driving forth the lower four elementals (of earth, water, fire, air) and forcing the lunar lords to abdicate.  The personality, which has hitherto been the master, no longer can control, and the soul comes into full domination in the three worlds.

 

The elemental of earth, who is the sum total of the many lives which form the physical body, is controlled and feels the eye of the Master (the one Master in the head) upon it.  The gross elements constituting that body are "driven forth" and better and more adequate atoms or lives are built in.

 

The elemental of the astral or body of water undergoes a similar activity plus a stabilising effect which brings to an end the restlessness and fluidic tempestuousness which have hitherto characterised it.  Through the controlling magnetic power of the spiritual eye, the soul [Page 216] rebuilds the astral body and holds it steady and coherent through its focused attention.

 

Again, an analogous process goes forward in the mental body.  Old forms disappear before the clear light in which the spiritual man is working and as the Old Commentary puts it:

 

"One glance the soul doth cast upon the forms of mind.  A ray of light streams out and darkness disappears; distortions and evil forms fade out, and all the little fires die out; the lesser lights are no more seen.

"The eye through light awakens into life the needed modes of Being.  To the disciple this will carry knowledge.  To the ignorant no sense is seen for a sense lacks."

 

The elemental of the air symbolically understood is that substratum of energy which works through the forms of the etheric body, which is dealt with through the breath, and handled through the science of pranayama.  This elemental form is the intricate etheric structure, the nadis and centres, and all advanced students know well how these are controlled by the focused attention of the soul in contemplation, acting through the head centre, focused in the region of the third eye and swept into right and specific activity by an act of the will.  In the above sentence I have concentrated the formula for all magical work on the physical plane.  It is through the etheric body and the force, directed through one or other of the centres, that the soul carries on the work in magic.

 

It is through the intense focusing of intention in the head and the turning of the attention through the third eye towards the centre to be used that the force finds its correct outlet.  That force is made potent by the energising, directed intelligent will.  Study these points, for in them you will find the clue to the magical work in your own life reconstruction, to the magical work of human reconstruction which certain adepts are carrying on, and to the magical work of the evolution of the divine plan which is the motivating power of the occult Hierarchy. (TWM 215-216)

 

 

By the exercise of the two main weapons of the aspirant, discrimination and dispassion, he gains that quality which is called in this rule "the vital power".  Just as the eye is the instrument of choice in choosing the way of travel on the physical plane and has besides a potency all its own whereby it attracts and develops its [Page 230] own sign language, so a vital power is felt in the aspirant.  This eventually brings the third eye into activity, and so there is gained a potency and a clear vision which make right choice and quick progress upon the way a steady progression.  We are told that power is grown or developed in silence, and only he who can find a centre of peace within his head, where the paths of the bodily forces and the spiritual inflowing tides meet, can rightly practice true discrimination and that dispassion which bring the controlled astral and mental bodies under the guidance of the soul. (TWM 229-230)